With less than an hour before the match started, Linda and Cheng Liao were already at the venue.
Linda still treated Cheng Liao with indifference, while Cheng Liao amused herself by listening to two Jiangcheng Daily reporters gossip.
Xiao Qi suddenly burst in, grabbing Cheng Liao, his voice trembling.
"Have you seen Mr. Sheng's copy of the Tao Te Ching?"
Cheng Liao had seen it before; it was a thread-bound edition, the pages yellowed with age, likely an antique from who knows when. Sheng Jingchu always carried it with him during matches.
"I haven’t seen it," Cheng Liao replied, feeling a bit nervous herself. "Did it go missing?"
Xiao Qi was so anxious that he stomped his foot, "I saw it last night and double-checked before going to bed. Did it grow legs?"
Cheng Liao thought of seeing Ding Lan in the elevator earlier, recalling her unpredictable behavior, and a suspicion crossed her mind. She asked, "Did Ding Lan come by today?"
Xiao Qi nodded, "Yes, she came by. She said she was looking for Mr. Sheng, and I told her he wasn’t here. She said she wanted to come in for a cup of coffee. I went to start the coffee machine, and when I turned around, she was already gone." His expression suddenly changed, "It couldn’t be…"
At that moment, Ding Lan and Cao Xihe arrived. Hearing her name mentioned by Cheng Liao, Ding Lan sneered.
"Are you out of your mind?" Ding Lan pointed a finger at Cheng Liao, "What proof do you have to accuse me like this?"
Cheng Liao stared at her lowered hand, "Oh? If it wasn’t you, then why do you have ink stains on your hand?"
Ding Lan glanced at her hand quickly, a brief flash of triumph crossing her face, "Where…" She suddenly realized she had fallen into Cheng Liao’s trap, and her face turned pale.
There was a brief moment of silence among the onlookers. After all, Ding Lan was Sheng Jingchu’s junior sister, and no one wanted to be too harsh on her, but what she did was truly infuriating. Director Zhu of the Go Academy was already trembling with anger. Victory had been within reach, but now, their own person had sabotaged them.
Seeing the expressions of those around her, Ding Lan started crying, "It wasn’t me, it really wasn’t me." She then tried to shift the blame onto Cheng Liao, "Didn’t you go there today?"
Cheng Liao was at a loss for words.
"There are security cameras in the hotel corridor. Do you need me to pull the footage for you to admit it?"
Ding Lan finally fell silent, sobbing as if she had been deeply wronged.
Cao Xihe was also disappointed but couldn’t bring himself to scold her too harshly, "If you took it, just admit it. There’s no shame in that. But now, you should at least give it back, right?"
Ding Lan just kept crying, and when pressed, she finally said, "I threw it away!"
Threw it away?
Cheng Liao was so angry she could hardly contain herself, but she took a deep breath and held back. The situation was already dire, and they had to think of a way to fix it. She asked Xiao Qi, "Is there a Chinese bookstore nearby? Can you go buy a copy?"
Xiao Qi hesitated, "Will that work?"
Director Zhu had no other options, "Just go. It’s better than nothing. I’ll contact the organizers to arrange a car for you."
As the minutes ticked by, Xiao Qi still hadn’t returned, and Kato Kiyomasa and Sheng Jingchu had both arrived one after the other.
Sheng Jingchu scanned the crowd for Xiao Qi and asked Director Zhu, "Where’s my assistant?"
Everyone’s nerves tightened. Director Zhu quickly explained, "Dean Zhao is ill, and since Xiao Qi knows Japanese, we had him accompany the dean to buy some medicine. He’ll be back soon."
"What’s wrong with Dean Zhao?"
"Nothing serious, nothing serious. Just ate too much wasabi and had a bit of indigestion."
There were twenty minutes left until the match.
Fifteen minutes.
Ten minutes.
Eight minutes.
Five minutes.
Kato Kiyomasa had already switched to a new folding fan. His fans were all crafted by famous artisans, and each time he would buy dozens, specifically to tear them up during matches. It was a bit of a wasteful habit, and some wondered if most of his income was spent on these fans.
Proudly, he showed off his new fan to Sheng Jingchu, asking the Chinese translator to translate his words.
"The Tale of Genji, a set of twelve fans. The one I’m holding depicts the character Lady Murasaki."
Sheng Jingchu wasn’t in a hurry to enter the game room and sat down beside him.
Kato Kiyomasa asked him something else in Japanese, and the translator provided the translation.
"Mr. Kato says, ‘Why haven’t I seen you with your Tao Te Ching today?’"
Director Zhu cursed under his breath, "That damned little Japanese, always hitting where it hurts. Do you think he’s doing it on purpose?"
There were only two minutes left before the match was to begin, and Kato Kiyomasa was already preparing to enter.
Everyone exchanged worried glances, knowing Xiao Qi wouldn’t make it back in time.
Sheng Jingchu followed Kato Kiyomasa.
There was a short corridor between the waiting room and the game room, just a few meters long.
"Sheng Jingchu!"
Cheng Liao called out to him from behind.
Sheng Jingchu paused and turned to look at her.
Cheng Liao rushed up to him and hugged him tightly.
He was a bit surprised, his hands frozen in mid-air before they slowly lowered to pat her head, "What’s wrong?"
Cheng Liao felt like crying, holding back a surge of tears.
She knew how crucial this match was. When both players were of equal skill, the state of mind often determined the outcome.
He was such a stubborn person, holding on to memories of his mother, picking through his food meticulously, and had kept this up for twenty years.
He hated change, always insisting on returning every kitchen utensil to its exact position after a meal, down to the precise angle.
He had his principles, but could he adapt if they were suddenly disrupted?
Sheng Jingchu instinctively reached for a piece of candy, but today he was wearing a different suit and hadn’t brought any.
Cheng Liao sniffed, "I just wanted to say… good luck." She knew it wasn’t the most encouraging thing to say, but she felt she had to say it anyway, "It’s okay if you lose. I’ll turn you into a fox!"
He laughed softly and promised her, "Alright." Then, he quickly turned and walked into the game room, the door closing behind him.
The match officially began.
Cheng Liao was too nervous to watch the live broadcast in the waiting room, so she paced the hall, practicing her breathing.
Yan Xiao came out to check on her, "Do you want me to get you some quick-relief heart medicine?"
Cheng Liao clutched Yan Xiao’s hand, which felt cold to the touch.
"How’s it going? No, don’t tell me…"
She let go of Yan Xiao’s hand and began counting the marble tiles on the floor, "Win, lose, win, lose… wait, this pattern isn’t right. Let’s start over."
Yan Xiao looked at her, speechless.
Time seemed to drag on.
Cheng Liao was reminded of her school days when the math teacher would call students to the board to solve problems.
She had always been terrible at math and dreaded the thought of being called on, so she would hunch down, hoping the sword of Damocles wouldn’t fall on her. Only when the teacher called on someone else would she breathe a sigh of relief, feeling that the wait had lasted longer than a century.
Finally, there was a roar of excitement from the waiting room.
Then, someone came running out—it was Director Zhu from the Go Academy. Despite being in his sixties, with a round belly and graying hair, he was so excited that his hair stood on end from all the tugging.
He ran while laughing, "We won, we won!" He grabbed a passing waiter, hugged him, and kissed him on both cheeks, "We, China, win, win!"
The sword of Damocles fell, striking Kato Kiyomasa right on the head.
Cheng Liao felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her. She leaned against the hotel door, slowly sliding down, then gradually stood back up.
Linda saw her and rolled her eyes, "What use are you, really?" Then, muttering to herself, she added, "Well, at least you got a photo of that hug."
This match lasted two hours and fifty-four minutes; Sheng Jingchu's victory wasn’t an easy one.
As he walked out of the game room, the Chinese reporters immediately swarmed around him.
"We heard your Tao Te Ching was lost. Did that affect your performance?"
It was only then that he realized the Tao Te Ching was missing.
After a moment of thought, he replied, "This book was a gift from my teacher. I was only a teenager then, and I was overly concerned with winning and losing. He told me that this book was given to him by his teacher when he was learning Go. Passing it on to me was to remind me that a Go match is not just a competition; more importantly, it’s about personal growth. One must approach the game with the mindset of seeking the Way.
"So before every match, I read it to remind myself to let go of gains and losses.
"Today, someone told me that losing isn’t a big deal. And I thought, yes, indeed, what’s so terrible about losing? Chinese Go has come this far; it can’t be judged by one victory or defeat. While I bear the expectations of my countrymen, all I can do is my best."
From a distance, Cheng Liao listened. It turned out that the Tao Te Ching wasn’t a tool for winning but for helping him maintain a calm heart in the face of defeat.
Sheng Jingchu glanced over and saw her huddled by the door. She looked tired, but she was smiling, her shoulders shaking like a little chipmunk.
He smiled too, not the reserved smile he usually wore, but a broad, bright one.
A reporter captured the moment and shared it online, dubbing it the "Smile of Victory."
The next day was Kato Kiyomasa’s wedding. Perhaps due to some rumors, Kato Kiyomasa even sent an invitation to Cheng Liao through his assistant.
Unfortunately, Xiu Era had already booked their flights for the next day, so Cheng Liao had to regretfully decline Kato Kiyomasa’s invitation.
However, the next day brought heavy rain in Tokyo, delaying flights indefinitely, and everyone was stranded at the airport.
Cheng Liao pulled out Kato Kiyomasa’s wedding invitation, hailed a cab, and headed straight to the wedding venue.
The rain was so heavy that traffic was at a standstill.
Cheng Liao received a WeChat message from Sheng Jingchu:
"Are you still planning to leave today?"
She teased him, sending a voice message: "The meteorologists say the rain will stop soon."
Kato Kiyomasa’s wedding was held quietly, without any media presence. It took Cheng Liao a while, using her broken English, to find the hotel listed on the invitation.
She thought Kato Kiyomasa might have planned his wedding for the day after the finals to add a touch of glory, but missing out on the championship left the celebration a bit lacking. Yet, the fact that he still invited Sheng Jingchu showed that he wasn’t entirely narrow-minded.
By the time she entered the wedding venue, the ceremony had already begun.
Sheng Jingchu stood on stage, wearing a white shirt under a black suit. Though she was far away, Cheng Liao noticed that he seemed to have lost weight. When had he slimmed down? Was it when he came to Japan for the competition? Or the night before the round of sixteen?
Kato Kiyomasa said something in Japanese on stage, and Sheng Jingchu bowed to the audience. Behind the piano sat Zhao Yanxun, also in a white shirt and black suit.
Zhao Yanxun bowed to the audience and then sat down.
A gentle melody began to play—it was "Paint My Love."
Sheng Jingchu picked up the microphone. His voice was clear and pure, like a stream flowing beneath a frozen river.
It was the first time Cheng Liao heard him sing, and the first time she realized just how beautifully he sang.
It was a remarkable sight in the Go world—two world-class players, one playing the piano, the other singing. It had nothing to do with Go, but the singer performed with exquisite precision, and the pianist played perfectly.
She suddenly realized that Sheng Jingchu had been deceiving her before, claiming he had no time to practice or needed guidance. His level was almost professional; how could he possibly need her help?
Xiao Qi turned around and saw Cheng Liao at the back. He came over cheerfully.
Cheng Liao ground her teeth, giving Xiao Qi a forced smile, "Your Mr. Sheng sings quite well."
Xiao Qi couldn’t help but beam with pride, "Our Mr. Sheng is known in the Go world for his golden voice, but he rarely sings. Only someone like Kato Kiyomasa could persuade him to perform. Even Master Jiang once said that if Mr. Sheng ever stops playing Go, he could make a living as a singer."
Cheng Liao had heard that Zhao Yanxun could play the piano—his mother was a well-known pianist—but she never knew that Sheng Jingchu could sing so well. Even Yan Xiao, who prided herself on knowing everything about the Go world, had never mentioned it. Clearly, Sheng Jingchu had kept this hidden.
When the song ended, Sheng Jingchu and Zhao Yanxun took a graceful bow.
Yan Xiao called her, "Where are you? The announcement said they’re clearing the airport, so we should be able to fly soon. You should hurry back."
Cheng Liao glanced one last time at the people on stage before turning and rushing to the airport.
On the way, she received a call from Sheng Jingchu.
"Did you come by?"
"Yes."
There was a brief silence. "Liao Liao, should I continue waiting for you?"
Cheng Liao bit her lower lip, "No need to wait, I’m here."
She knew that with those words, everything had changed. Friends could become lovers, but lovers couldn’t go back to being friends. Every shift in a relationship is a risk.
But what could she do? This was a risk she had to take, even if it meant no return.
Her heart had already moved. Perhaps her body was still standing where it was, but her heart had long since slipped out of her control and stood before him.
After hanging up, she received a WeChat message from Sheng Jingchu:
"Since you came into my life, the days before all fade.
Since you came into my life, everything has changed."
These were lyrics from "Paint My Love."
She didn’t know if he meant it as a metaphor, but she pressed the phone to her heart, rubbed her face, and smiled.
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